Privacy Policy .

This privacy policy ("Privacy Policy") applies to collection and use of personal information by means of this Web site (the "Web site"). The use of the Web site is also governed by the Terms of Use, of which this Privacy Policy forms a part.

Use Of Personal Information

TripAdvisor LLC and/or its affiliates ("TravelPod") owns and operates the Web site and is committed to protecting the privacy of its users. TravelPod does not collect personal information about individual users except when such personal information is provided to TravelPod on a voluntary basis and when monitoring traffic to the Web site. TravelPod uses your personal information to help it create and deliver content most relevant to you and to provide you with information about TravelPod and its products and services.

If you choose to provide information via the Web site though site registration, surveys, forms or any other means, that information becomes the property of TravelPod (the foregoing does not apply to Member Content, as defined in the Terms of Use). Subject to the Terms of Use, personal information about users will not be sold or otherwise transferred or disclosed to unaffiliated third parties without the user's approval except TravelPod reserves the right to disclose personal information: (a) to its affiliates and subsidiaries, (b) to third party service providers of TravelPod provided that such disclosure will be limited to information needed to deliver their service, and further provided that such third parties shall be prohibited from using the information for any other purpose; (c) to conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on TravelPod; (d) to protect and defend the rights or property of TravelPod; and, (e) to act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of TravelPod, its Web sites, or the public. In addition, TravelPod shall be entitled to disclose and transfer personal information as part of a sale of substantially all of its assets, or the assets related to a particular line of business, to a third party, provided that such third party agrees to protect the personal information with no less a degree of care as set out within this policy.

Some services on this Web site allow individuals to publish and publicly display personal information, including publishing personal information in travel blogs posted to the Web site and notification emails you may send to your list of contacts, as well as through the participation in message boards, discussion groups and other forums. Participation in such services is always optional. If you choose to disclose personal information when participating in such services, you do so at your own risk. TravelPod shall have no liability to you whatsoever regarding the use of such personal information by persons other than TravelPod.

TravelPod may conduct statistical analyses through the use of data collected through the Web site on an anonymous and aggregated basis in order to measure interest in and use of the Web site. TravelPod may also provide its analyses based on such anonymous and aggregated data to third parties.

Personal information collected on this Web site may be stored and processed in Canada or any other country in which TravelPod or its agents or service providers maintain facilities, and by using the Web site, you consent to any such transfer of personal information outside of your country.

E-Mail

TravelPod will not monitor, edit, or deliberately disclose private communications unless: (i) required to do so by law; (ii) you grant us permission; or (iii) in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) comply with the law; (b) comply with any legal process that is served on TravelPod; (c) protect and defend the rights or property of TravelPod; (d) or act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of TravelPod, its Web sites, or the public. However, you acknowledge that: (i) there are security and privacy limitations of the Internet which are beyond the control of TravelPod; (ii) the security, integrity and privacy of any and all information and data exchanged between you and TravelPod through the Web site cannot be guaranteed; and (iii) any such information and data may be viewed or tampered with in transit by a third party.

E-Mail Addresses

There are two sets of e-mail addresses that TravelPod collects and stores: (i) TravelPod member e-mail addresses, and (ii) e-mail addresses stored in TravelPod member notification lists (address books). The e-mail address of TravelPod members is used to send members warnings, alerts, information about their travel blog and its usage. Examples of e-mail communications which TravelPod sends to its members include confirmation of subscribing or unsubscribing to a travel blog and sending members their password, if forgotten. Most features which involve a TravelPod's e-mail address can be disabled or opted out of. TravelPod members e-mail addresses are considered personal information pertaining to the applicable member and will treated in the same manner as other personal information as described above (see "Use of Personal Information").

E-mail addresses stored in TravelPod members' notification lists are used to e-mail notifications of updates to the applicable TravelPod member's travel blog. These e-mail addresses are not used for any other purpose.

Information from Your Computer

Our site recognizes information about your computer, such as the browser, operating system, IP address, and the home server from which you access the Internet. We keep track of the domains from which people visit our site. Your IP address is used to help identify you, gather broad demographic data, identify trends and statistics, help diagnose problems with our server, and administer our web site. We may use your IP address information when compiling and reporting aggregate information about our Web site and to provide geo-location services.

Cookies

Cookies are small data files containing information to specify unique preferences and to provide personalized content. Cookies collect information such as your browser type, time and length of your visit and any personal information you agree to provide.

When you visit our Web site, we assign a unique visitor ID to a cookie file stored on your computer. This code is generated at random to enable us to "remember" you the next time you visit. This technique enables us to better serve you by providing content that is tailored to your specific interests and needs. Cookie information is neither connected to external data sources nor passed on to any outside party that is not connected with this Web site.

In addition, third party service providers and advertisers may use cookies to recognize your computer each time you visit certain pages and to compile anonymous information in relation to those page views.

Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies but visitors always have the option of disabling cookies and you can reset your browser to refuse all cookies or indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you refuse cookies, you may be limited in your ability to access and/or use some areas of the Web site.

Third Party Web Sites

As this site contains links to other Web sites, we cannot be held responsible for the privacy practices or the content of these other sites. You should check the privacy policies of these other Web sites when providing personally identifiable information. Similarly, the Web site may contain co-branded Web pages which feature services provided by our third party service providers. For example, you may see a Web page which features a "Power by _____" or similar designation. When providing personal information on a co-branded Web page you should carefully read the privacy policies provided by or in association with such co-branded Web pages.

We use third party advertising companies to place ads on our Web site. These companies may use information (not including your name, address or email address) about your visits to this and other Web sites in order to measure advertising effectiveness and to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. We DO NOT share any information (such as your name, e-mail address, etc.), which may be used to personally identify you with these companies.

Children's privacy

This is a general audience Web site and does not offer services directed to children. Should a child whom we know to be under 13 send personal information to us, we will use that information only to respond directly to that child to inform him or her that we must have parental consent before receiving his or her personal information.

Security of Information

The security of your personal information is important to TravelPod. We use a variety of security technologies and procedures to help protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. For example, we store personal information you provide on computer servers with limited access that are located in controlled facilities. Additionally, when we transmit sensitive personal information over the Internet, we protect it through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol.

You may, at any time, review, edit, and/or remove any information we have stored on you by contacting us via our contact form. We will comply promptly with any request to review, edit, or remove information.

Always the Ability to Opt-Out

At any time, you may choose to opt out of further e-mail communication with TravelPod by requesting so via our contact form.

All requests for removal will be handled expeditiously and without question.

Amendments To This Privacy Policy

TravelPod reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time by notifying you of the existence of a new Privacy Policy. Such changes, modifications, additions or deletions shall be effective immediately upon notice thereof, which may be given by means including, but not limited to, posting on the Web site, or by any other means by which you obtain notice thereof. Your continued use of the Web site after such modifications will constitute your: (a) acknowledgement of the modified Privacy Policy; and (b) agreement to abide and be bound by the modified Privacy Policy.

Contacting Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or the privacy practices of TravelPod in respect of this Web site, please direct your inquiry to us via our contact form.

Last updated May 2009

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